The Lord of Hosts and the Pity of (the Great) War, 1 November 2014, Corpus Christi College, Oxford

During WW1 the language of heroism and holy war was succeeded by images of hell and horror where the soldier was not so much a hero as a victim. Jingoism gave way to protest, and war was no longer a story leading to victory but a drawn out catastrophe. Wilfred Owen believed that new moral landscapes of the new hell were needed. In avant-garde poetry late Romantic Georgian expressions gave way to forms of Modernism. Three thousand volumes of poetry were published during the war years. In Germany 50,000 war poems a day were submitted for publication during August 1914. In France Barbusse's novel Le Feu delivered during the war a Zolaesque indictment drawing on images of the Flood and apocalypse. All Quiet On the Western Front was a German response, eleven years after its end, to the traumas of the war. Numerous works pursued these themes in poetry, prose, film.

It was 'the most literary and most poetical war in English history' (Paul Fussell). Biblical metaphors abounded of sacrifice, crucifixion, apocalypse. Three thousand years previously the psalmist of Ps 60 had appealed to God who used to 'go out with our armies' but had it seemed rejected his people. The psalmist hoped and prayed that now: 'with God we shall gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.' In the NT Paul noted how, paradoxically, Christ 'disarmed the powers and authorities, and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross' (Col. 2:15).

The day allows for up to five papers, followed by seminar-style discussion. Offers are invited of papers discussing literary responses to the War, or examining the Biblical connotations of the title 'the Lord of Hosts' (Yahweh Sabaoth). Papers should have a reading time of 25 minutes and be of a standard suitable for publication subsequently in The Glass. Preference is as always given to contributions exploring Christian and Biblical themes in literature.

The deadline for proposals, which should be emailed to Dr Roger Kojecký (secretary@clsg.org), is 31 May. The proposal should give a provisional title, should state in a paragraph or two how you will tackle your topic, and give brief information about your background.